Red Paper Hearts
by Nivor
Summary: Beca is a romantic at heart and leading up to Valentine's Day she decides to play cupid. In the spirit of the holiday she goes around secretly giving out flowers and notes to random girls. But what happens when she starts to focus on just one girl? Mitchsen.


Title: Red Paper Hearts

Pairing: Mitchsen, some Bechloe friendship.

Rating: T (for some swearing)

Summary: Beca is a romantic at heart and the week leading up to Valentine's Day she plays cupid. In the spirit of the holiday she goes around secretly giving out flowers and notes to random girls. But what happens when she starts to focus on just one girl? Mitchsen.

 **A/N: A hopefully sweet Valentine's Day One Shot.**

* * *

Beca had never been able to remember much from her childhood mostly due to the fact that it had been filled with shouting and breaking glass until her father had eventually left. She tried her best to block out those memories but the one thing she eagerly remembered was one of the very few times a year when her parents seemed to be in love.

Without fail, year after year, her parents had gone all out for Valentine's Day.

Her father Warren would bring home a big bunch of flowers and a big box of chocolates (as well as a smaller box for Beca) and her mother Lucy covered their house in red paper hearts and cooked Warren's favourite meal.

It was one of Beca's favourite days of the year because for one day they seemed like a family. There was no shouting, nothing got broken and both of her parents smiled more.

When Warren left them Lucy never stopped decorating the house and instead made Beca's favourite meal.

"I love you Beca so why shouldn't we have a day to celebrate that?" Lucy had told the little brunette the first Valentine's Day after Warren left. After those words, a seven year old Beca had ran to the park and pulled up the first bunch of flowers she had deemed pretty enough to give to her mother.

The tradition had continued without Warren and Beca's love for the holiday never waned.

That was why three days before the big day, Beca was sat in her dorm room when she should be in her intro to marketing class cutting out a large number of red paper hearts. This year would be a little different though because Beca had big plans. She had been talking on the phone with her mother since the start of February planning out every move she was going to make that night to ensure that everything went perfectly.

Beca was going to shower the campus with love.

Instead of putting up the little paper hearts on her wall she was going to hand them out to the female population of Barden with little notes on them. However, Lucy had suggested that she do it dressed up as cupid and when the idea of a mask was added to the costume Beca was on board. The costume that Lucy had made had arrived in the mail the day before.

It was a set of cupid wings that Beca could put over her shoulders, a red felt quiver and a full face white mask with red hearts painted on it. Beca had a red zip up hoodie to wear underneath and the outfit was complete. She was excited to wear it though she would be hesitant to admit that to anyone but her mother.

Beca sighed as she looked at the stack of hearts she still had to write on. It was a tiring job but she was motivated because as soon as she finished writing out the notes she would be ready to go for her first night as Barden's secret cupid.

* * *

Beca found that as soon as she was in costume and giving out the hearts she couldn't help but get into character. There were lots of girls walking around the campus as darkness fell and whilst Beca started out just handing the hearts out and then running away her method soon changed.

For one girl, she stopped, touched the paper heart to her own heart and then pressed it into the girl's palm. Another girl she grabbed by the hand and spun her then handed her the heart. The response so far was good. All of the girls that Beca had stopped were happy to receive the heart with kind words such as, 'You are an amazing human being' written on them.

Beca was beaming underneath her mask as she felt the joy she uniquely experienced on Valentine's Day.

Then her night got even better.

She spotted Aubrey and Chloe walking together on the path behind her. Chloe was smiling and clearly pointing at her wings whilst Aubrey looked unamused. Beca decided that if she got put a smile on the face of dozens of random strangers that night then she could definitely do it for her friends. Even if she felt more than friendly feelings towards one of the seniors.

She slowed down until the two girls were almost directly behind her and spun around. They both stopped in shock at the sudden action. Beca then dropped to one knee and took a paper heart in each hand, offering one to each girl.

Chloe took hers instantly and squealed at the message on it. Aubrey was a little slower but did take it when it was obvious that there was nothing sinister about Chloe's. When she had read the words, 'You are beautiful' on her heart, Aubrey couldn't help but let a light blush cover her cheeks. Seeing the way the blonde responded made her heart swell and she stayed knelt on the floor staring at the blonde for a long few moments. When she realised what she was doing she stood up.

"Who are you?" Chloe asked, bouncing excitedly.

Beca was glad her costume was keeping her identity a secret. The mask covered her entire face and with the hood of her hoodie pulled up her hair was also covered. Her height probably gave away that she was a girl but that would have been it. She was glad that she wouldn't have to explain why she was doing her cupid act to her friends tomorrow.

Beca made sure to deepen her voice significantly and try to change her accent when she responded, "I am the Cupid of Barden and I will bring love to all the ladies on campus." Beca had said those words a few times already that night but was used to it bringing her eye rolls or at best a smile.

Chloe always did get more excited than others.

"That is so great are you going to be out every night until Valentine's Day?" Chloe asked.

Beca stopped to think but it only took a second to come to a decision. "Yes I will!"

"What's your angle?" Aubrey asked sceptically. Nobody went around doing nice things like that without wanting something in return.

"I just want to spread the love beautiful." Beca really wasn't sure why she called Aubrey beautiful. It was true of course and Beca thought about that fact often but she would never be brave enough to say it. She concluded that it must have been her costume giving her the confidence.

Aubrey blushed again but otherwise didn't look convinced. Beca decided it was time to move on as much as she wanted to stay with the girls so took off at a run in the opposite direction.

"See you tomorrow night!" Chloe shouted after her.

Beca smiled as she ran, knowing that her fun wasn't over yet and even better…Aubrey would probably be out tomorrow night with Chloe. Beca was going to have to up her game.

* * *

Beca didn't get back to her dorm room until 3 o'clock that night but the first thing she did was call her Mom.

"Hey baby, how did it go?" Lucy asked, sounding alert and awake even in the early hours of the morning. Beca wouldn't have been surprised if her Mom had stayed up just to hear what had happened.

"It went really well Mom, everyone liked it so I think I'm going to do it again tomorrow." Beca stated as she pulled off her mask and sat down on her bed.

"That's great honey, are you just going to give out more hearts?" Lucy asked.

"No I think I need to step up my game." Beca stated as she pulled the hood of her hoodie down.

Lucy felt her mother's intuition telling her something so she asked, "Are you stepping up your game for any one in particular?"

"No Mom…It's not…I'm not…her name is Aubrey." Beca had never been able to hold out from her Mom for long not even when they were hundreds of miles apart.

"Oh my baby has a crush!" Lucy squealed in excitement.

"A tiny, little baby crush." Beca admitted reluctantly, grimacing into the phone for having revealed that much.

"Well I know just how we are going to win you the girl and let the cupid of Barden up her game Beca." Lucy exclaimed. "You can use the emergency credit card I gave you and you can stop off at the local florist tomorrow morning."

"Are you sure?" Beca asked, knowing that the number of flowers they needed would cost a lot of money.

"Of course honey, this is special to both of us plus I've been doing a few more hours at the hospital." Lucy explained.

"Thanks Mom."

"Anything for you honey."

* * *

"Hey Beca are you coming to the SBT bash tonight?" Amy asked almost as soon as Aubrey called an end to practice the next day.

"I can't tonight." Beca said automatically, not willing to let anything get in the way of her plans.

"What are you up to tonight Becs?" Chloe asked with something like suspicion in her eyes. She couldn't let Chloe figure out that she was the Cupid so she came up with a lie on the spot.

"I've got a shift at the radio station tonight." Beca lied, turning away from the two girls so that her facial expression didn't give her away.

"Too bad, I'll drink one for you." Amy replied, clearly happy to believe the lie.

"So did any of you get a little note from the Cupid of Barden last night?" Chloe asked the group before any of the girls had left.

"The what?" Cynthia Rose asked as she and the other girls walked back over to the redhead. Aubrey stayed by the piano sorting her papers and trying to stay detached from the conversation.

"The Cupid of Barden. She's a girl who dressed up as Cupid and went around campus delivering little paper hearts with sweet notes on them to girls." Chloe explained with a grin and a flick of her eyes towards Beca.

"That sounds really sweet. I wish I'd gotten one." Jessica stated and Beca made a mental note to try to find the girl that night.

"We'll have to look for her while we're out tonight." Stacie suggested.

"Yeah there are 9 of us, we should be able to find her, hold her down and take off her mask." Amy stated and Beca's eyes widened in fear.

"We don't want to attack her." Aubrey finally spoke up.

"You're with us on this woman hunt Captain?" Amy asked, looking over at the blonde who was still keeping her distance.

"Somebody has to make sure that none of you do anything illegal to this girl." Aubrey replied.

"Why are we so sure it's a girl?" Beca threw the question into the crowd, hoping to through them off her scent a little.

"The boobs were a big give away plus she was short." Chloe answered nonchalantly.

"I'd say average height." Beca mumbled to herself and thankfully nobody heard her.

"It's a shame that you won't be able to help us tonight Beca. I'm sure you know a lot about this Cupid." Chloe said with a mischievous glint in her eye and Beca knew the red head was onto her.

She panicked and started walking backwards out of the room. "Well, have fun tonight guys, I'll see you at practice tomorrow." Beca called to them. Not watching where she was going, she backed up into Aubrey.

"Careful Beca! Look what you've done." Aubrey scolded and Beca turned around to see that she had knocked Aubrey's papers out of her hands and onto the floor. She knelt down to help pick them up, an apology on her lips when she saw a red paper heart sticking out of one of Aubrey's binders.

She picked it up, smiling at the fact that Aubrey had kept it when it was suddenly snatched out of her hand. Without another word, Aubrey gathered the last of her things and marched out of the practice hall.

* * *

Beca's second night as cupid was not going as well as her first night.

She had been able to store hundreds of hearts in her quiver the previous night but was only able to fit about twenty roses in at any one time. It meant she had to go back to her dorm room to restock a lot and she was worried that she was going to be seen.

It just meant that she had to be more careful about who she gave them to because she could run out fast. After a few hours she was down to her last rose which she had set aside for one person in particular.

Aubrey.

Now it was just a case of getting her away from the other Bellas or particularly away from Amy who Beca was sure would attack her if given the chance.

She made her way across campus to the house the party was being held in and loitered in the shadows behind a hedge. She couldn't help but feel like a creep but she wanted to see Aubrey give her that little smile and maybe get her to blush again. It would be worth it.

As if destiny had taken a hand in Beca's endeavours that night, Aubrey choose that moment to walk out of the house and stand in the front yard. Beca guessed that the senior had needed some air and saw her opportunity to strike.

When the front yard emptied out a little, Beca moved forward and dropped to one knee in front of the blonde. Aubrey's eyes flashed in recognition at the mask and so she didn't stop Beca when she grabbed her hand.

Pulling up her mask to expose only her mouth, Beca dropped a light kiss onto the back of Aubrey's hand then pulled the mask back down. She then took a rose from her quiver and offered it to Aubrey who, as Beca had been hoping, was blushing.

The blonde took the flower and held it to her nose to smell it. Beca grinned beneath her mask and was about to run again when Aubrey asked, "You kiss all the girls like that?" There was a small smile playing around her lips and she cradled the flower she had just received against her chest.

"No, only you. You're special." Beca replied in her deep cupid voice.

Aubrey opened her mouth to say something that Beca never got the chance to hear over Amy shouting, "We got her!"

Looking around, Beca saw that a few of the Bellas were surrounding her and closing in to try and capture her. Though her time was running out, Beca chanced a glance at Aubrey, happy to see that she looked as surprised as Beca felt. Beca had hoped that she wasn't just the bait in the trap and clearly she wasn't.

Weighing up her options, Beca happened to see Stacie stumble a little in her advance. Acting fast, Beca ran at the taller brunette and managed to dodge the drunken girl's attempts to catch her. Then it was just a case of running back to her dorm except that Stacie had decided to chase her.

Thankfully, Stacie really was hammered and struggled to run in a straight line so Beca easily outran her. She mentally thanked Aubrey for all the cardio she forced her to do that allowed her to run that far without collapsing.

Only a few seconds after Beca had entered her room there was a knock on the door.

"Beca, it's me open up." Chloe called through the door.

"Fuck!" Beca mumbled to herself as she started to panic, looking around the room for any stray flowers or paper hearts. She ripped the mask off her face and the quiver from her shoulder and threw them under the bed.

"Beca, I know you're in there, your shift should have ended an hour ago."

She pulled her hood down and opened her laptop to make it look like she had been mixing then gave her room one last scan. Taking a deep breath to hide the fact that she had been running, Beca finally opened the door.

"Hey Chlo, how was the party?" Beca asked casually.

Chloe raised her eyebrow at the brunette and ignored the question.

"I'm on to you Beca Mitchell." Chloe stated, poking a finger into her chest.

"I don't know what you mean Chloe and I'm kind of tired. I'm just going to go to bed." Beca said and tried to close the door but the redhead pushed her way into the room.

"I would guess you're tired from running around and delivering flowers all night."

Chloe replied accusingly as she took a step forward. Beca took a corresponding step back and said, "I didn't deliver any flowers tonight."

"Yes you did because you are the Cupid of Barden."

Beca willed her face to remain impassive as she replied, "No I'm not Chloe that's ridiculous. I was working at the radio station all night." Beca knew she wasn't a good liar but she was hoping that Chloe would buy the lie just this once.

"Then why are you wearing wings?"

Beca froze and Chloe grinned smugly in triumph.

Her wings. After everything she had hidden when she heard Chloe knock the door, Beca hadn't remembered to take the large fluffy white wings off her back. Beca opened her mouth, hoping she could talk her way out of the situation but Chloe cut her off.

"Don't lie anymore Beca, I think this is amazing…I want to help you." Chloe looked a little nervous at this point, worrying that Beca might not accept her offer.

"You want to help me?" Beca questioned disbelievingly, not sure if she could trust her own ears at that moment.

Chloe nodded and Beca heaved out a breath as she let her mind catch up to what had happened. She finally took off the wings and shoved them under the bed with the rest of her costume. She took a seat at her desk chair and gestured for Chloe to sit on the bed.

"You want to help me Beale then tell me how we are going to top ourselves tomorrow night."

* * *

"What the fuck are you wearing?" Beca asked Chloe when the redhead let herself into Beca's dorm room the next day.

"My costume. I'm Cupid's little helper." Chloe explained as she did a little twirl to let Beca see the whole of the costume. It was a short and tight red dress with red heels and a bow, arrow and quiver.

"I'd don't even know where to begin to tell you everything that is wrong with that costume."

"There is nothing wrong with it." Chloe defended, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You have nothing covering your face, everyone will know it's you and it is not a big leap to guess that the Cupid with you is me." Beca explained, choosing the most obvious problem to start with.

"You underestimate me Beca." Chloe replied as she pulled out a mask from her bag. It was the opposite of Beca's as it was red with white hearts on it.

"What about your hair? That red hair will give away who you are in seconds." Beca added and Chloe threw the mask to Beca who was sat in her desk chair.

She looked over it and saw that Chloe had sewn a piece of red fabric onto the back so the mask also acted like a hood and her hair wouldn't be visible.

"See, I thought of everything." Chloe claimed as Beca threw the mask back to her.

"What about the heels?" Beca asked.

"They're super cute aren't they?" Chloe replied, lifting her foot to display her shoes a little better.

"I guess but how are you going to run in heels?" Beca questioned.

Chloe huffed a laugh, "Beca, I'm a senior in college, you'd be surprised at what I can do in heels."

Beca decided that she didn't want to know what Chloe meant by that statement and just decided to trust that if Chloe said she could run then she could actually run.

"Anyway, how are the chocolates coming along?" Chloe asked, taking a seat on Beca's bed and proceeded to fiddle with the foam arrows in Beca's quiver.

"The guy at the store said they should be ready for me to pick them up at 7 o'clock tonight so we should be able to start by the time it gets dark." Beca answered as she watched Chloe steal some of her arrows to put in her own quiver.

"I'm so excited Becs, this is going to be so much fun." Chloe squealed.

Beca couldn't help but let her own excitement show through as well. "I know it's going to be great, I love Valentine's Day." She said with a big smile.

"Oh Beca, that is so sweet." Chloe cooed, putting a hand to her heart.

"I'm not sweet, I'm awesome."

* * *

Beca tried to be subtle about it but there was no way the conversation was going to come around to Aubrey without her prompting it. They were walking along the path by the quad, there quivers filled with small heart shaped chocolates wrapped in red foil when Beca decided to bring it up.

"So where are the Bellas tonight?" Beca asked, pleased at how she managed to bring up the topic without making it clear that she was only interested in where Aubrey was.

"Well Stacie is at another party, Amy is with one of her boyfriends and Aubrey is at the library. I don't know where the rest of the girls are. Why do you ask?" Chloe replied.

"I just wanted to make sure we give a chocolate to each of the girls tonight." Beca replied, trying to keep a neutral tone in her voice.

"That's a great idea." Chloe agreed and they set off to the party Stacie was at and showered the girls and the guys (Chloe's idea) with chocolates. They made sure that Stacie got a chocolate and Beca was pleased that the tall brunette seemed too sober to try to chase her again. They also headed to the dance floor and shot a couple of heart arrows each into the crowd before leaving to go to the library that Aubrey liked to study in.

The library was reasonably full despite it being the day before Valentine's Day but Beca just hoped that it meant that Chloe wouldn't see her give Aubrey a little something extra.

As soon as they walked into the building the librarian glared at them but it wasn't as if she could kick them out because they weren't doing anything wrong. Yet. Beca's eyes scanned the mostly filled tables but couldn't see Aubrey anywhere.

"She'll be sat at the back, away from the other people so that she can concentrate." Chloe said when she saw where Beca was looking.

Beca nodded and started giving out chocolates to everyone, getting a lot of pleased smiles but she wasn't enjoying it as much as she usually did because her mind was on Aubrey.

"Hey can I get a picture with you guys?" A random girl asked Chloe.

"Of course you can. Cupid get over here." Chloe ordered. Beca begrudgingly moved over to stand on one side of the girl and Chloe stood on the other side while the girl's friend picked up her phone to take the picture. When the stranger wrapped an arm around the two costumed girls, Beca grimaced under her mask and was glad that her expression couldn't be seen in the picture.

That started a string of people in the library asking to have their picture taken and of course Chloe continued to cheerfully accept the requests long after Beca had lost patience.

"Uh Cupid's Little Helper? I think we need to get going, we have lots more deliveries to make tonight." Beca said pointedly, thinking about Aubrey when another person got up with their phone in their hand for a picture.

It was too late however as Aubrey walked around the corner with her books in her arms and stopped as she took in all the commotion. If Aubrey left and went back to her dorm room then Beca would lose her chance and she wasn't about to let that happen.

Breaking away from the latest photo group hug she had been pulled into, Beca strode quickly across the library until she was stood in front of Aubrey who had an expectant look on her face.

"These are for you." Beca said in her deep Cupid voice as she pulled a red cardboard box out of the pocket of her hoodie. It was filled with the heart shaped chocolates and underneath them was a red paper heart with the words, 'I think you are incredible in every way' written on it.

As she took the box, Aubrey looked around to see that everybody else had only been given a single chocolate.

"I get the whole box whilst everyone else gets one?" Aubrey questioned and Beca felt herself heat up under her mask as she became somewhat unsure of herself.

"I told you before that you were special." Beca stated.

"Thank you." Aubrey replied quietly.

"OK, what's going on here?" A loud voice asked over the noise of the students. Beca turned to see campus security walking into the library and the librarian pointing to her and Chloe. The redhead in question ran over to Beca and grabbed her by the arm and said, "I think it's time for us to fly Cupid."

Beca was almost unable to run as she burst out laughing. Whilst Beca had chosen to disguise her voice from people she knew by deepening it, Chloe had chosen to make her voice high and squeaky and she sounded like a cartoon character.

Chloe wasn't about to leave Beca to get caught so she pulled the brunette along so they could escape through the back exit of the library. They ran for a while in the darkness until they were sure that no security guards were following them and then they stopped behind the Chemistry labs to catch their breath.

"What was that about Becs?" Chloe asked, pulling up her mask so that she could breathe a little better and Beca did the same.

"It was you doing an impression of those chipmunks from that kids movie you made me watch." Beca replied, trying not to burst out laughing again.

"No, not that, I meant what was with you giving Aubrey that box of chocolates?" Chloe elaborated. She already had an idea of what Beca's motives were but she wanted to hear it from the brunette herself.

"I just…I wanted all of the Bellas to get something a little extra special." Beca defended.

"So why didn't you give Stacie one?" Chloe prodded, the grin playing around her lips that she always wore whenever she knew that she was winning an argument.

Beca huffed and threw her hands up in the air as she walked away. "I don't want to talk about this Chloe, we have a lot more to do tonight." Beca reminded and Chloe was forced to trail behind the freshman as she walked off.

She wasn't going to give up on her suspicions though.

Not by a long shot.

* * *

That night Chloe had learned everything she needed to know about Beca's feelings for Aubrey.

After the first Bellas practice of the new semester Chloe had learned everything she needed to know about Aubrey's feelings for Beca.

Now it was time for her to play cupid.

* * *

"Chlo, can't you just tell me what we are going to do? This is Valentine's Day, the biggest night, we have got to do something amazing." Beca said as she and Chloe walked through the campus in full costume.

"You trusted me enough to let me plan this Beca so trust me a little longer." Chloe pleaded.

Beca couldn't argue with that and Chloe had come up with the successful chocolate idea. She decided that she could go without knowing for a little while longer.

They finally made their way into the empty and dark Bellas practice hall and walked in without turning on the lights.

"This is kind of creepy Chlo. Is the grand finale? Are you going to kill me?" Beca asked, mostly joking.

"If I was going to kill you I wouldn't do it here." Chloe stated as if that fact should be obvious while she pulled down the metal ladder that led to the rafters of the space. She gestured for Beca to go first.

Beca's eyes widened slightly and she hesitated. "You say some weird shit sometimes Beale." Beca said as she finally did as prompted and started climbing up the ladder first. When they were both standing at the top, Chloe led the way over to the door that gave roof access and again waited for Beca to go first.

"What are you planning Beale?" Beca asked, having felt she had waited long enough for an answer.

"Open the door and find out." Chloe challenged with a smirk and so Beca did.

She lost the ability to breathe with the sight that greeted her.

There was a pathway of red paper hearts on the floor leading up to a table covered in candles and with a meal sat waiting on it. There were flowers scattered across the ledge of the building and the stars were clearly visible in the sky.

But what really took her breathe away was the girl sat at the table.

"Seriously Chloe, what is…" Aubrey trailed off when she saw two people, neither of whom she thought was Chloe.

"What are you doing here?" Aubrey asked, suddenly apprehensive.

Instead of responding, Chloe pushed Beca further onto the roof , calling out, "Enjoy your date!" before slamming the door closed and locking it.

Beca stared at the locked door for a few moments, trying to decide what she should do next. She was dragged from her thoughts by a melodious voice behind her saying, "We really shouldn't let this food go to waste."

Beca turned to see intense green eyes boring into her and she took a seat at the table.

"You know I really don't like to go on a date with someone and not even know who they are." Aubrey stated, hinting that she wanted Beca to take her mask off.

"What if you don't want to go through with the date once you find out who is under the mask?" Beca asked, truly worried about the possibility.

"I think it's a chance you have to take." Aubrey replied thoughtfully and staring at the mask as if she could see through it. Truth be told she already had a very good idea as to who was under the mask.

Beca took a deep breath, nodded once and reached up to pull down her hood first and then her mask. She didn't look at Aubrey once the mask was off, afraid of what her reaction might be.

"Beca, look at me." Aubrey ordered and for once Beca complied.

Aubrey was smiling at her and she reached over to take one of Beca's hands in hers as she said, "Thank you for the hearts and the flowers, it was all very romantic."

"You're welcome but are you sure you're not disappointed that it was me doing all of those things?" Beca said unsurely.

Aubrey summoned up her courage to say the one thing she knew would reassure Beca. "Beca…I've had a crush on you since our first practice. I was hoping that it was you under there all along." Aubrey admitted and it was her turn to be uncertain as she waited to see how Beca would respond.

"Well obviously I like you too or I wouldn't have done all that stuff to woo you." Beca pointed out.

"Is that what you were doing? Trying to woo me?" Aubrey asked with an amused smile that caused Beca to blush. "Don't be embarrassed, I really liked it." Aubrey said, squeezing the hand she was holding lightly in reassurance.

"So did it work? Did I successfully woo you? Beca asked with a hopeful look on her face.

"I'd say that you did a pretty good job."

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you think…**


End file.
